The Hi-line range of heatless pressure swing adsorption desiccant dryers are now all equipped as standard with their new HDC-1 digital controller. This provides a digital dewpoint display. In addition the ra...

Lincolnshire’s small businesses in the food manufacturing industry can now access the latest in time saving technology as SUSTAIN Lincolnshire has acquired pizza press machinery, capable of making up to 400 pizza bases in just one hour.

Available for use at the University of Lincoln’s National Centre for Food Manufacturing, the Cuppone Pizzaform presses dough evenly in seconds, producing a pizza base that can be cooked quickly and at a lower temperature, saving energy, time and waste because each base is created in perfect uniformity.

Councillor Colin Davie, Executive Member for Economic Development at Lincolnshire County Council, says: “Acquiring the Cuppone Pizzaform will provide local food manufacturing SMEs the opportunity to use or test machinery that could increase their outputs and expand their business in a sustainable and cost effective way.

“The goal of SUSTAIN is to offer small and medium-sized businesses from all over Lincolnshire the tools and support needed to increase their competitive advantage and save money, all while safeguarding the environment and reducing the carbon footprint.”

The pizza press can produce bases measuring up to 300mm in diameter in varying thicknesses, as well possessing the versatility to also create flatbreads and chapattis.

Professor Val Braybrooks MBE, Dean of the National Centre for Food Manufacturing at the University of Lincoln, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to further support local businesses and provide time-saving tools that are not only energy efficient and cost effective.

“The Cuppone Pizzaform is just one of 11 pieces of SUSTAIN machinery available at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing. Not only is this new pizza press available for eligible businesses to use, but we also have a humidity cabinet, blast chiller and Hobart oven.”

Leading UK coffee roasting company, Lincoln & York, has made history this month by installing the UK’s largest coffee roaster at its North Lincolnshire HQ. The new 600 kilo Brambati drum roaster is now in operation, roasting to a consistently high quality.

The new addition to Lincoln & York’s family of roasters has almost doubled capacity, paving the way for further growth.

Not only are the team celebrating the arrival of this magnificent piece of equipment unique amongst UK firms, but Lincoln & York has also just opened the doors to its own contingency coffee roastery. This fully equipped, standalone building is on the same site as the main factory.

As part of the development, roasting and packing equipment has been moved across from the existing Lincoln & York factory to fully replicate its production capabilities and make room for the 600 kilo roaster.

In the event that the smooth running of the existing roastery is affected, the contingency facility, which runs on an independent power supply, will allow the team to fulfil orders without disruption.

The new facility also includes additional office space as Lincoln & York makes room for new recruits.

James Sweeting, Managing Director of Lincoln & York said of the developments, says: “Our customer base has massively diversified over the last five years and our new roaster and contingency roastery are just two of the ways we are responding to this and preparing for future growth.

“We work with a range of different sized businesses across the out of home, foodservice, wholesale, vending and specialist retail markets. This new roaster will allow us to fulfil high volume orders for our largest national and international customers, increasing capacity across our other roasting equipment.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be pushing the start button on this piece of equipment and opening our second coffee roastery in our 20th year. Having our own contingency operation has always been our ambition and to now be able to offer our customers a degree of reliability that no other UK roaster can is an attribute we are very proud of. Guided tours are available on request, of course.”

The first hotfill line with slurry dosing to be installed in Kazakhstan and Central Asia has resulted in annual cost savings of $1.4 million, say Galanz Bottlers.

The new production line, featuring a Sidel SBO heat resistance blower and a Sidel Matrix hot filler, enabled significant lightweighting of the bottle. This achieved a reduction in PET material usage of some 700 tonnes for the year, generating the significant cost savings as well as improving the environmental footprint of the bottler's production processes.

Galanz Bottlers is a leading name in healthy beverages, drawing on the worldwide trend for healthier living which is being embraced by consumers in Kazakhstan. Sales of products such as hotfilled tea, juices and drinks containing fruit pieces are all increasing and Galanz Bottlers operates extensively in this soft drinks sector, holding the position of Central Asia's leading producer of iced tea, including its Maxi Tea brand.

Nestlé is another company that has invested in this fast developing sector of the beverage market, with its Nestea range achieving significant sales growth in the region. When Galanz Bottlers was awarded the Nestlé contract to bottle hotfill Nestea in Kazakhstan, it brought about the need to expand production capacity and to rethink the existing production process. Tursengali Alaguzov, owner of Galanz Bottlers, explains, "We didn't have enough capacity for this production so we turned to Sidel." Working closely with Galanz Bottlers, Sidel drew on its forty years of experience in hotfilling to propose a production line with the SBO14 Universal2eco HR blower and the company's latest sophisticated filling system, the Sidel Matrix SF 700 ISD Hot Filler.

This advanced Sidel packaging technology allowed a focus on lightweighting. Working with Sidel, Galanz Bottlers is the first company in Kazakhstan to convert its PET Heat Resistant bottle production to a short neck, as well as redesigning the bottle, ultimately achieving a saving of five grams per bottle for the 0.5 litre format and around 10 grams for the 1.2 litre format. By adopting these much lighter preforms, this results in savings of around 700 tonnes of material a year, equating to $1.4 million.

The combination of these technologies provided the flexibility to accommodate the six different packaging formats of Galanz Bottlers, from 0.45 to 1.2 litres, at speeds of up to 24,000 bottles per hour. It also offers the versatility to handle the different neck sizes of 28mm and 38mm. The line operates with two modes - it can blow and fill non-carbonated drinks, such as teas and isotonic beverages without fruit pieces, and it can also fill a variety of drinks with pulps, fibres, sacs, fruit pieces and Aloe Vera with its integrated slurry dosing system.

With the ISD system for drinks containing pulps and fruit pieces, the filling process is carried out in two stages. Firstly, the fruit pieces are added, with the liquid then filled into the bottle. This is achieved through pistons that manage dual stream dosing to ensure the pulp or fruit pieces are introduced to the liquid accurately and at a steady rate.

During production, the correct flow rate can be controlled from the tank to the filling valve without stressing the liquid beverage, an important factor with such delicate particulates. The filling valve is subjected to constant pressure which leads to high distribution accuracy in the filling process.

Sidel had worked previously with Galanz Bottlers, supplying another bottling line and several pieces of standalone equipment. The support provided by Sidel was an important factor in selecting the company again, with the speed and efficiency of communication highlighted by Tursengali Alaguzov. He says, "The staff were very responsive and we received answers to our questions on the same day. I would especially like to thank the Sidel technicians who were communicative and responsive during the line installation and setup. We often had the feeling that they were installing the line personally for themselves."

UK-based engineering solution provider Nylacast are proud to have been shortlisted as Finalists for the 2014 "Made in the UK" awards for best Apprenticeship & Training Scheme. Having won the "Made in the...

Powerstar, the global market leading voltage optimisation system, is now available in Ireland following a distributor agreement with leading Irish energy solutions company Powerstar Voltage Limited.

Powerstar is developing a market presence in a number of new international territories - the company also recently signed agreements with distributors on the East Coast of America.

Headed by Gerry Corrigan, Powerstar Voltage Ltd. is identifying strategic energy efficiency opportunities across Ireland, by capitalising on the Irish Government’s policy to reduce energy consumption by 20%, with the implementation of energy efficiency measures, by 2020.

Recognising that Government must lead by example, it is, at the same time, challenging public sector procurement departments to achieve a 33% reduction in energy usage in the same time frame.

Gerry Corrigan says: "With these targets at the forefront of many strategic energy plans, the demand from companies and public sector organisation alike for the Powerstar range of products has never been greater. The reaction from customers, when they are presented with the potential savings they can achieve is extremely positive.”

Voltage in Ireland is on average supplied at 242V by the National Grid, however only 230V is required by modern equipment and appliances. Powerstar’s innovative products reduce the voltage coming into a building or site to the optimum level. Average electricity consumption savings of 12% to 15% can be achieved by installing Powerstar solutions.

At the same time, Powerstar products reduce harmonics and maintenance requirements, extending the life span of appliances.

Dr. Alex Mardapittas, managing director of Powerstar says: “Currently 15% of our business is from international markets, we plan to grow this by developing our presence in new markets across the world including Ireland. Gerry holds the same values of customer care, product excellence and entrepreneurial drive that have been at the centre of Powerstar’s success in the UK, and we are looking forward to developing what promises to be an exciting market for our products in Ireland together.”

Powerstar voltage optimisation systems, have been designed and manufactured in the UK for over 13 years and are the only systems in the world to be granted a patent on their design. Powerstar boasts 100% reliability with no recorded failures across thousands of installations globally, offering a secure, proven and reliable solution for businesses in Ireland.

POPULAR CATEGORY

The hallmark of Food & Drink International is in its editorial approach. The magazine has a policy of using experts in their fields in order to ensure editorial integrity and independence. Top names in the sector regularly contribute with incisive opinion and valuable advice.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.